The Man in the Green Coat by Carola Dunn Page A

in the best of condition after two days on the stage from Dover.
    Looking in the mirror again, she decided she looked bilious. Tomorrow Gerard must present their draft at Hoare’s Bank, and then she must persuade Madame Aurore to take her shopping.
    * * * *
    Madame Aurore needed no persuasion. When Gerard returned from the bank with a pocket full of what he referred to as ‘flimsies,’ she sent for her carriage and the two ladies set out for Bruton Street. Madame knew all the best modistes, and had for some years been unable to indulge to the full her penchant for the latest fashions. She was delighted to help, and had not lost the elegant taste of the true Parisienne.
    Gabrielle, however, had been parted in early youth from the extravagant frivolity of Paris and brought up in the thrifty atmosphere of Switzerland. She was shocked by the prices, and no amount of urging from her ladyship would persuade her to buy on tick.
    “But your papa will certainly pay!” exclaimed Lady Harrison.
    “I expect he would if he were here,” agreed Gabrielle mildly, “but he is not and we have no idea when to expect him. We have limited funds, and Gerard wishes to purchase a commission in the army, which will certainly be expensive, will it not?”
    Her ladyship sighed and took her charge to Grafton House.
    “Fortunately,” she said, “the season is nearly over. One ball gown, a promenade dress and a simple toilette de soir will do for now.”
    “But I have no intention of going to parties!” cried Gabrielle. “I shall just live quietly until Papa comes.”
    “Nonsense, chérie. Believe me, Papa would wish it so. And it will be such a pleasure for me to chaperone a pretty girl instead of going about by myself. Sir Cosmo was a pillar of the Foreign Office and he had friends in the very best society. They are kind to his poor widow, so we shall not want for invitations.”
    “Tell me about Sir Cosmo, madame.”
    With a mixture of complacency and becoming modesty that made Gabrielle want to laugh, Lady Harrison described how she had found herself a second husband within six months of her arrival in London.
    “I had rather have wed your Papa,” she admitted with a deep sigh, “but I could not abide Neuchâtel and he refused to come to England, or even to go to Vienna. I was so sorry to leave you two little children, but you had still the admirable Mademoiselle Wilford.”
    “Whom I must go and see,” Gabrielle murmured to herself.
    “And now,” my lady continued sadly, “your Papa is coming at last, and I have grown so fat since Sir  Cosmo died that he will not like even to look at me!”
    Unable to deny that Madame Aurore had lost the sylphlike figure she remembered, Gabrielle asked hurriedly, “I suppose my grandfather is dead, or Papa would not be willing to come here now?”
    “La, child, has he not told you?”
    “No, he never told us anything. He is the most abominably secretive man you can imagine, and we know nothing about his family. So you can begin at the beginning and tell me everything you know.”
    “Oh dear,” said Lady Harrison. “I should like to, of all things. But if Maurice does not wish you to know, I must not. Maurice never does anything without a very good reason. You will have to wait until he arrives.”
    No amount of pleading would change her mind, though Gabrielle returned several times to the subject as they pored over silks and satins, laces and ribbons. At last, surrounded by packages neatly tied in brown paper and string, they drove back to Russell Square.
    The front door of Lady Harrison’s house stood open. As they alighted from the carriage, they heard loud voices within. Her ladyship laid a trembling hand on Gabrielle’s arm, but trod bravely up the steps.
    The footman met them at the door.
    “It’s the chandler, my lady,” he whispered. “Says the bill for candles hain’t been paid in six months.”
    Peering past him, Gabrielle saw Gerard confronting a burly individual with a